Tablet PC Issues

Hello, I've been trying to get my tablet PC to work with Ubuntu (Hardy) for more than a week now, and I'm getting very frustrated getting the touch screen / stylus to work at all.

I've searched all over the place and seen several success stories all with different methods, but none seem to work for me (a lot are old and pre-Hardy). I'm still a little new to Linux so I'm just getting the hang of everything, but I'm pretty positive I've been doing what the tutorials say.

My machine is an HP Pavillion tx2110us (fairly new), and I read somewhere that the newer tablet PCs route their touch screens through USB now instead of serial (I've tried both methods). I'm still not sure if that means I'm supposed to leave the "Tablet PC ONLY" sections there or not, in addition to the USB ones.

Any help is really appreciated, I'm frustrated that I can't get this to work and I'm afraid it's something stupid I'm missing.

Re: Tablet PC Issues

Hey welcome to the forums!

You are in luck. The linux wacom was updated just recently to support our tablets (I have the tx2000z which is the online version of your tablet)
I have everything working and am planing on writing a tutorial soon.. (hopefully tomorrow)
If you can't wait till then, go tohttp://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/

and download the dev package and get going!
You are right about it being usb...
I am attaching my xorg.conf (had to rename it so I could upload it) as that will help a bit in the end, configuring, though you may have to change it a bit.
It's really not hard any more. No more patches or anything.
I will post a link to the tutorial when a make it here.
Kory

Re: Tablet PC Issues

***** UPDATED November 3, 2008 *****

NOTES:

If you are on Intrepid, the packages are already packaged in .deb format!
The release is 0.8.1-4 for the packages.
I have heard both reports of these packages working, and them not working... If you want to compile the newest version, then just move on...
From all apearences, these packages DO NOT work. As far as I can tell, this is because of HAL and fdi files.
Edit: I have found out a bit more about the whole thing... For us, hotplugging our tablets is useless (unless you normally open your lappy and disconnect you digitalizer and reconnect it.) So using the xorg.conf is the best way (it also means we can use the touchscreen and eraser)

If anyone has any idea what all that stuff is, please inform me : )
Other wise do

Code:

sudo apt-get install wacom-tools xserver-xorg-input-wacom

***If you are getting errors when running wacomcpl that says libwacomcfg.so.0 cannot be found, then you need to run configure like so

Code:

./configure --enable-wacom --prefix=/usr

Calibration is now fixed! Now just use wacomcpl (see below!)
If you have updated and the wacom stuff stops working, you will need to recompile. All you have to do is recompile, and copy over the driver. Your Xorg.conf will stay the same unless you mess with it

With 0.8.1-5 there seems to be a lot of little issues fixed!
Like when using touch, sometimes after clicking (with touch) the cursor will jump up and click on the toolbar, or do weird stuff like that.
As far as I can tell it now is fixed.
If you have any issues please report them here. Thanks and enjoy!

For an update changelog, just check the linux-wacom folder you download. It is in the file Changelog.

Okay Here we go....

I want to first say that even though this looks like a lot of work, it is not really... I just explain everything very thouroughly (I can't spell) If you are a linux person then just download the source from the linux wacom site, compile it and copy the driver to the correct module section (check below) then configure xorg.conf like I show below....
If you are not don't be afraid to plunge in and get the tablet working!

~~FINDING HELP~~
Note first I just want to say that when looking for help on this tablet series the best search to do on these forums is

"tx2*" (without the quotes) this will find you a lot more posts!

~~~~TUTORIAL FOR USB WACOM TABLET PC~~~~

I now put the Code boxes around the all terminal input so you don't have to worry about copying the >

Okay now you need to add the kernel headers for your kernel. Most people will just do

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic

to check your kernel version do:

Code:

uname -r

Some people might have the rt kernel...

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-rt

If during any time you got a notice to restart or if you have a little restart icon in the top right system try (looks kinda like a blue recycle icon) then by goodness restart. If you are not sure, then go ahead and restart just to be safe. The reason is if you update to a newer kernel, then the module won't work on restart as the module is compiled for a specific kernel.

Okay I will try to make this as simple as possible. Unfortunately for some reason the stylus and touch events do not go by the same event number every time so we have to go another way...
first of all If you have made any changes to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf concerning wacom delete all those changes Unless you have followed this tutorial before and know what you are doing. (make sure to also remove wacom references in the server layout section!)

Also do:

Code:

gedit ~/.xinitrc

and delete any line with "xsetwacom" at the beginning Unless you know why it is there. This will make it easier to calibrate. Save that then restart.

If when you do the command the file is blank, do not worry. Just close out of gedit and continue on.

After you restart the stylus and touch should work. If it does not, restart again. It took me like three times before it kicked in. Don't ask me why...
It should move it, though probably very uncalibrated. Make sure you cover the entire screen to see if it moves.
If it does not move then post the results of

Now we need to fix the synaptic touch pad part. Since it has the word "touch" in it it is wrongly detected.
find the part that says:

Code:

Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"

and change it to

Code:

Identifier "Synaptics Pad"

then in the server layout section also change it****

if this is all confusing, you can download my xorg.conf to look at. It is at the bottom of this post. Do not use any other xorg.conf of mine uploaded on any other thread or post as it is probably old.
note: if you are on another tablet (not a tx2000 series) it would not be wise to just paste my xorg into yours. It will probably not work. In fact it will probably break stuff
If you have the tx2000 if you just renamed it to xorg.conf and pasted it over yours, it would probably work, but I don't suggest doing it.

input9 (from dmesg) matches with event9 (in the ls command) So The File

pci-0000:00:0b.1-usb-0:2.3:1.0-event-mouse

is one that we need.

next input10 (from dmesg) matches with event10 (in the ls command) So The File

pci-0000:00:0b.1-usb-0:2.3:1.1-event-

is the other we need.

Now just amend your xorg.conf with those two names that you just got. The one ending with "mouse" should be in the stylus and eraser sections
and the one ending in "event-" should be in the touch section.
In theory since we have the same basic laptops these files should be the same as mine but you need to check....
If you have anything other than a tx2000 it probably will be different.

And that should be it.
Press Ctrl + Alt + Backspace to restart the xserver.

Login and we will now calibrate.

Just open up a terminal and do:

Code:

wacomcpl

A gui!!!! everything you will probably ever need to do with wacom is here. Just read the buttons

To make the wacomcpl settings stay after you reboot you need to:

Code:

chmod +x ~/.xinitrc

Then go to System->Preferences->Session

click on add and for the command write "~/.xinitrc" (without the quotes) title it whatever.....

This will only work for the user though. So before you log in it is still uncalibrated.

So to make it system wide (if that is what you want) here is a short how-to:

First do:

Code:

rm ~.xinitrc

Now go into wacomcpl and make it how you want it. (calibrate included)

Now open up .xinitrc and xorg.conf:

Code:

gedit ~/.xinitrc & gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

now you just transfer the stuff over to the xorg.conf.

For example the line in my .xinitrc is:

xsetwacom set touch bottomy "3951"

if you open up a terminal you can use xsetwacom to figure out how to translate it to the xorg.conf.

so what you would do for the line above is:

Code:

xsetwacom -x get touch bottomy

the x stands for xconf.. get obviously gives you the value.

that command outputs

Option "BottomY" "3951"

which I would put in my xorg.conf under the touch section.

Here is another short example.

.xinitrc:

xsetwacom set stylus Button3 "Button 3"

command:

Code:

xsetwacom -x get stylus button3

part to put in xorg.conf

Option "Button3" "BUTTON 3"

that's about all there is to it. Hopefully I got across some understanding in there

I hope this helps everyone. If you have any problems just post them here and I will help as soon as I can.

Kory

Edit: Hopefully fixed the problem of wacom driver not starting.... July 28, 2008
Edit: Updated for 0.8.1-2 and to fix pressure.... August 3, 2008
Edit: added some stuff... August 4, 2008
Edit: No need for patch!!!! Also updated xorg.conf part to fix some stuff I broke August 18, 2008
Edit: Put My xorg on this page. Fixed typos August 19, 2008
Edit: Fixed the wget command and link and added clarification. August 28, 2008
Edit: Fixed a command error hopefully before it caused problem. Plus 0.8.1-4 is coming very soon! August 29, 2008
Edit: Updated for 0.8.1-4 (fixed calibration!) Also cleaned up a lot! September 1, 2008
Edit: Updated for 0.8.1-5 (fixed a few issues) and For Intrepid! October 11, 2008
Edit: Added Intrepid stuff... October 13, 2008
Edit: Updated for 0.8.1-6.... And found I was limited to 8 smileys : ) October 25, 2008
Edit: Updated for Problems involving Intrepid.... November 3, 2008

Re: Tablet PC Issues

Originally Posted by gali98

the pressure on the pen is inverted halfway through, doing weird things (just use gimp to see what I mean)
Kory

I experienced this bug as well. Using this bug report as a starting point, I was able to come up with a fix. Attached is a patch that should be applied to src/xdrv/xf86WacomDefs.h in linuxwacom-0.8.1-1.

Just apply the patch, recompile the driver and then reinstall it. Once you restart X, the pressure should work correctly.

Just note this was a really quick hack and could easily have unintended side effects (although I haven't noticed any). If you notice anything weird after you try this, you should probably undo these changes and wait for someone who actually knows what they are doing to fix the issue.

Re: Tablet PC Issues

I tried installing as the instructions show, but the tablet is still not working. Attached I have my ./configure results and my xorg.conf file. One thing I noticed is that when i run the make command, I get this error

Building linuxwacom drivers for 2.6 kernel.
***Note: Drivers not enabled as modules in your kernel config but requested through configure are NOT built